Charles Saatchi: Nigella Lawson Drug Use Claims Were a "Mistake"

Charles Saatchiis now coming to his ex-wifeNigella Lawson's defense against claims that she's a heavy drug user.An e-mail from Saatchi in which he refers to Lawson as "drug-addled" was introduced as evidence last week as part of a fraud trial ...

An e-mail from Saatchi in which he refers to Lawson as "drug-addled" was introduced as evidence last week as part of a fraud trial involving two of Lawson's former personal assistants, but now Saatchi is backpedaling, The Associated Press reports.

The two former assistants, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, testified last week that the celebrity chef has a drug problem and uses substances including cocaine and prescription pills habitually. The Grillo sisters are charged with defrauding Saatchi out of nearly $500,000, but they maintain that they had a verbal agreement with Lawson under which they could use her husband's credit card freely in exchange for silence about her alleged drug use.

When Saatchi testified on Friday, he told the court that he didn't believe "for a second" that the allegations about Lawson's drug use were true. He also said that the e-mail that was introduced was a "mistake," and added that he has "never, never seen any evidence of Nigella taking any drug whatsoever," according to the AP.